How to show up in local search results on Google: 6 Tips on going hyperlocal vs. local for SEO

Brand Hacking Podcast - Episode 1

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In this episode of Brand Hack, we break down the difference between hyper-local and local SERPs, what you CAN and CAN'T control about Google's search intent classification, and how you can take simple but POWERFUL action to create local SEO juice for your brand or business.

Timestamps🕑 (Links are for YouTube)
0:00 What is a local SERP?
1:09 How does a local SERP display on Google or Bing?
1:53 What does a hyper-local SERP look like on Google and Bing?
3:05 How does Google determine local vs. hyperlocal intent behind search terms?
4:34 Actionable steps for hyperlocal and local SEO that help Google
5:46 Using image SEO for hyper-local SERP visibility
6:30 Optimize your Social Profiles and Posts for local visibility
6:59 What if my business doesn't have a physical location for Google?

Written Guide: https://kattwagner.com/how-to-show-up-in-local-search-results-google-tips

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Chapters

• 0:00 6 tips for showing up in local SERPs on Google - Episode 1
• 0:12 What is a local SERP?
• 0:26 Hyperlocal SERPs vs. Local SERPs: What's the Difference?
• 1:09 How does a Local SERP display on Google or Bing?
• 1:53 What does a hyper-local SERP look like on Google and Bing?
• 3:05 How does Google determine local vs. hyperlocal intent behind search terms?
• 4:34 Actionable steps for hyperlocal and local SEO that help Google
• 5:46 Using image SEO for hyper-local SERP visibility
• 6:30 Optimize your Social Profiles and Posts for local search: Google and On-Platform
• 6:59 What if my business doesn't have a physical location for Google?

Transcript

0:00

This is a super fast Brand Hack podcast. So Today we're going to talk about how to help Google show you locally in SERPs. SERPs means search engine results, page or pages. And if you're looking to show up in SERPs near your location, we're going to go over the difference between going hyper-local versus local for search engine results and how to ensure your content is optimized for the local market. First let's look at the difference. What's the difference between hyper-local SERPs versus local SERPs. Google interprets hyper-local searches as something that has proximity as a major factor behind the search intent of the user performing the search. That means google thinks they're looking for a place to get up and go to either right now, or sometime soon. If We scale back a little bit to just local, instead of hyper-local, location is still relevant. Google still understands that the user making the search is looking for somewhere nearby. The SERPs will probably show things like city, state, and region specific pages in the results. but a map may or may not be present. It's not always predicted by Google that this person needs a map and store hours to figure out if they should get up and go. Now. What are the key differences between local and hyper local search engine results, as far as how they look in the frame of Google or Bing? If you do a local search, that's typically going to give you results that say a city and state in the title. You may or may not see a map pop up. Usually what you'll see is the company name, some basic information. Usually the description that the company wrote in its own website. And typically the top results, you'll notice common things. When I search for something in my own. Town, the clickable title, as well as the URL that's displayed below the title in the search results, and the description, for the top ranking results, all typically mention the city and state that I'm searching for. As far as a hyper-local SERP. Say for example, you look up your local Planet Fitness and in the top fold of the results page, whether you're on mobile or on desktop, on a larger display. This is usually where you'll see a full blown map show up and you'll see business listings in the left-hand side and you'll be able to click each business to expand them for more detail. This is because Google knows that these are proximal results that nine times out of 10 someone making a search with these types of terms, they're looking for a place to go to. The same is true for someone looking for the closest McDonald's or the closest gas station. Very quickly, they're going to display the company name, the address, ratings are usually displayed. They're going to show business hours. If you click to expand any of the businesses, you'll usually see more business details such as, is it busy right now? Or how busy is it usually at this time? And then you'll also have buttons to click through to the website or get directions right now. You can also click the map to see different pinned locations for where each of these places is located on a map. That way, if you want to choose a place to go visually, based on your proximity or location, you can do so. Now it's worth knowing that Google has predetermined how different words are classified. For example, things like "bank" might be looked at as something, someone would search nationally. If you want to pull up chase.com. It might not be because you're looking to go to a branch in your town. You might just be trying to go to your Chase website to check your account balance. So that is not always classified as a local search. Google would look for search terms like " chase near me" or "chase bank near me" or" chase bank in city state." But just "bank" by itself isn't going to be classified as a local search term most of the time. Something like auto insurance, however, might be. If you were looking to pay your auto insurance bill, you're probably not searching auto insurance anyway. You're probably searching for the name of the auto insurance company that you use so you can pull up their website and pay your bill. So usually Google will classify an auto insurance search as something local, however, Most people don't need to go in person to purchase auto insurance. but they will feature local results. They know that you're looking for something that probably covers and provides insurance in your market. Something like "pizzeria" is probably the most likely to be classified as a hyper-local result. If you want to, If you're planning a trip. Somewhere else. And you're looking for pizzeria. Is there, you'll have to actually type the location you're going to in your search key phrase, just so Google won't show you results near where you are right now. Now just because Google has predetermined how certain words are classified. Doesn't mean you don't have power over the content you make. You have complete power and making sure that your content makes it clear what localities and categories of business are relevant to your brand. And to do that, there's actually a bunch of actionable tips. So let's talk about some actionable tips for optimizing your content for local search. First you want to make sure your website's blog has both key location and key service categories. This will show Google your relevance to certain locations and what it is that you do when it comes to searches made by users that live in your area. It's also a good idea to have a specific page dedicated to locations. On this page, you can treat it like a directory or an index where you create hyperlinks to each of those key categories with the location name. Again, This will help Google understand that your content is relevant when someone is searching for those areas. As far as individual posts, you want to make sure you're using location names and all titles, your headers, your H2s mostly, your meta descriptions, and any place where text appears. Try incorporating locality names where it's relevant when you're making a blog post about a certain type of service you offer somewhere. When it comes to images. You should try to incorporate images in your posts when possible. It's also really helpful if you're going out and taking specific pictures of the location that you're writing about, but you can use stock images or infographics. If you don't have physical photographs. But when it comes to posting those images in certain blog posts, make sure you're using location names in your image description and in the alt text for the image. You want to make sure that the location bearing terms are accessible, even if the images can't load. and again, Even though Google is getting smarter with its visual AI [it can understand what the pixels in a picture of makeup in many cases], Having that text and the image description signals very strongly, that your content is location specific. Finally. You want to make sure that any social media accounts, especially Facebook pages, are utilizing locations, either in the descriptions or whenever you're posting pictures or posts or videos about certain services or products you offer within a local area. Again, this, ties back into proper categorization for Google's algorithms, but it also helps you on the individual platform itself. If somebody was looking for events near me on Facebook or maybe they're doing a places search on Instagram. And lastly, this is just a bonus tip, but if you don't have a physical location, But you want to take advantage of Google my business, it might still be possible to create what's called a "store within a store." Now, what you'd want to do is have a colleague who has a physical business location and see if you would be able to set up your business there. You do want to make sure you follow all of Google My Business policies regarding having a unique contact number, name, and business category. And you want to make sure you list all of your information appropriately. Google does have some pretty strict criteria for what types of stores within a store are eligible to be listed as a Google my business. But if you meet those criteria, it's well worth setting up because it could give you another placement in a search engine results page. All right. So that's our super fast brand hack podcast on how to help Google show you locally. Take care." Brand Hacking" is a brand new podcast hosted by Katt Wagner. Katt has helped hundreds of professionals in the music, retail, and real estate space build big brand power with small and simple steps. Be sure to like and subscribe to catch future tips on building an unbeatable brand.